When I first commenced blogging nearly 12 years ago, I tried everyone’s patience with my constant harping on the emerging military/geopolitical threat of China. I eventually dropped the subject (for the most part), so as not to bore the IB gang. At the time there was a cadre of nay-sayers who raised the typical objections, “China’s military uses obsolete equipment,” “China lacks the industrial expertise to make state-of-the-art equipment, “China’s R&D is derivative, relying on copying the West.”

“But they’re modernizing,” said I, “and their high-tech industry is growing. And they’ve trained their scientists and engineers abroad, so they’re fully capable of innovation.”

China’s rapid military modernization is “remarkable,” and is no longer merely “catching up” with the West, reports the International Institute for Strategic Studies in their annual report on global military capabilities.

“China’s emerging weapons developments and broader defence-technological progress mean that it has become a global defence innovator” says Dr. John Chipman, Director-General and Chief Executive of the London-based think tank.

It’s been sad to watch this happening over the course of 12 years, while the United States does nothing.

[Sorry for my lack of posting – I’ve been buried in matters personal and professional. Not likely to improve for some time, so I hope that some of the other IB authors can jump in.]

The BLS published its Employment Situation Report today, following the thundering jobs report from ADP yesterday. Today’s report was influenced by an update to the population statistics used in the Household Survey, in which BLS add almost half a million people to the population. Past employment numbers were not affected.

This might explain why the improvement shown in my chart wasn’t more impressive:

But it’s a little better than last month, so I’ll take it.

Say, didja ever want to see these numbers extending backwards to 1990? Of course you did: